NPD: U.S. Mac Ownership Grows, But Nearly 85% of Mac Households Also Own Windows PCs

[MacRumors]

According to market research firm NPD's 2009 Household Penetration Study, approximately 12% of U.S. computer-owning households have an Apple computer, up from 9% in last year's study. But of these Mac-owning households, nearly 85% of them also own at least one Windows PC.

Multiple computer ownership is a common thread in Apple computer households, with 66 percent of households owning three or more computers, compared to just 29 percent of Windows PC households. Apple owning households are decidedly more mobile as well, with 72 percent of them owning a notebook, whereas only 50 percent of households that have a Windows PC own a notebook.

The study also notes that Apple households tend to be more affluent than average computer households, and Apple owners also tend to own more consumer electronics devices (and twice as many of them) than the average computer-owning household.




Source: The NPD Group/2009 Household Penetration Study
The study notes that because these characteristics place Apple owners at the forefront of consumer electronics, their purchasing decisions can be valuable to the industry as a measure of upcoming trends and popular products.

Article Link: NPD: U.S. Mac Ownership Grows, But Nearly 85% of Mac Households Also Own Windows PCs

[Chintan100]

"Owns" windoze PCs != "Uses windoze PCs."

[bigandy]

I'm a PC owner. I use mine to prop my living room door open.

[couto27]

apple is growing 3% a year in 10years will be 39% of the market
lolololol

[BongoBanger]

Or you could take it to mean that of the most affluent purchasers the majority have both Macs and PCs since the survey claims that about 9 out of 10 of Mac owners also have a PC.

[Richard1028]

Originally Posted by MacRumors

Apple households tend to be more affluent than average computer households,

Well, duh. They needed a survey to figure this out? Maybe the should survey Porsche and Mercedes owners. I wonder if there's some kind of correlation to income?

[dmmcintyre3]

Originally Posted by BongoBanger

Or you could take it to mean that of the most affluent purchasers the majority have both Macs and PCs since the survey claims that about 9 out of 10 of Mac owners also have a PC.

I do too, but it's a hackintosh. The rest of the house is PC though

I have half of what is included in that graph in my house/cars. (DSLR, iPod, GPS)

EDIT: My brother has this $99 1 year old flash video camera, so I have 4/6 of the things on there.

[uberamd]

I have a PC in my college apartment running Internet Connection Sharing (basically acting as a router) because my college campus doesn't allow the use of switches/routers. This lets me get past the 1 connection per student limit and have my XBox, MacBook Pro, Apple TV, etc all hooked up and pipe the data through the Windows PC. Does that count?

[LagunaSol]

Originally Posted by couto27

apple is growing 3% a year in 10years will be 39% of the market
lolololol

I hope not. I don't need the malware issues.

[DipDog3]

All Macs also run Windows. So shouldn't it be 100% of Mac owners also own a Windows PC?

Never believe these stats!

[dmmcintyre3]

Originally Posted by DipDog3

All Macs also run Windows. So shouldn't it be 100% of Mac owners also own a Windows PC?

Never believe these stats!

No, not 100% of them do. My Mac will not run windows at all unless you call 150 MHz equivalent "usable". You are forgetting that all Macs pre 2006 were PowerPC not intel

[FakeWozniak]

Macintosh is a Personal Computer!

Most of the modern ones also run windows, so does this study mean that 85% of the homes with Macintosh are the Intel based ones?

These lines are so fuzzy anymore....

[mrochester]

Maybe the Macs just aren't capable of satisfying all of their owners needs/wants? I'd need a decently specced Windows PC along side a Mac for gaming.

[JeffTL]

In other news, people sometimes keep their old computers that are still good for something (Web terminal, other family members, server, Windows gaming, and so on), even if they now have a better one for their primary box...

[chaynes]

I don't throw away junk either, garage full of it, takes a while to realize I don't need it anymore. Besides, households with several family members probably have the typical intimidated PC users. One time reports like this don't say much, doesn't reflect change over time. If that's not true then we'll see a follow-up in 6 months of this same survey to see if the 85% has fallen... right? :-)

[BornAgainMac]

It makes sense. PC's are so cheap and you don't have to waste your Mac resources and let your Mac be a Mac. I also agree that PC users tend not be interested in electronics as much as a Mac user. They lead a simple life with basic needs like lighting and running water and Windows XP.

[alm99]

I own both, 2 windows laptops and a Mac mini. I would own only Macs if I could afford it. The cost to replace the windows machines will all Apple products is cost prohibitive to do it all at once, so I am slowly getting rid of all PCs in the home. Next purchase will be a macbook some time next year.

[slu]

I only have Apple computers, but one of them has Windows on it. So I wonder if I would count in the 85%?

The smug will be high in this thread.

[theanimala]

Makes sense. I have the iMac as the family computer, and 2 Window's machines as my office machines. 2 other Window's laptops are old hand me downs that float around the house for internet use. Most of the people I know with Mac's a running a similar setup, albeit with less extra machines laying around.

[n8mac]

Originally Posted by DipDog3

All Macs also run Windows. So shouldn't it be 100% of Mac owners also own a Windows PC?

Never believe these stats!

No, Macs have never come bundled with Windows. You gotta buy it separately. A computer without Windows is not a Windows PC.

I have never bought Windows or a Windows PC in my life and plan on keeping it that way

[supmango]

Originally Posted by BongoBanger

Or you could take it to mean that of the most affluent purchasers the majority have both Macs and PCs since the survey claims that about 9 out of 10 of Mac owners also have a PC.

That statement in the survey only proves to me that Microsoft somehow financially contributes to those who did the survey. 0 out of 10 people I know keep their PC around after switching to a Mac. And with Windows 7 being only marginally better than Vista (in my experience), I don't see that changing any time soon.

[Beric]

My household has 3 Macs (one with Windows as well) and 2 PC's.

[slapppy]

I also own a Windows PC/DELL. I use it to keep my coffee mug warm during the day.

[jpyc7]

Originally Posted by chaynes

. . . One time reports like this don't say much, doesn't reflect change over time. If that's not true then we'll see a follow-up in 6 months of this same survey to see if the 85% has fallen... right? :-)

The article did note that the survey was done last year also, so it isn't a one-time survey. I also anticipate the survey will be done again in a year, not six months.

[apull]

Originally Posted by uberamd

I have a PC in my college apartment running Internet Connection Sharing (basically acting as a router) because my college campus doesn't allow the use of switches/routers. This lets me get past the 1 connection per student limit and have my XBox, MacBook Pro, Apple TV, etc all hooked up and pipe the data through the Windows PC. Does that count?

Why not just clone your pc's MAC address on a router and be done with it?


Someday when you're paying your utilities bill, the $6-13/month you're paying to leave that PC on all day will be much better spent elsewhere. If you ARE paying your electric bill, measure your PC's power consumption and do the math.